


The Dragon's Nest

by shinealightonme



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Advice, Gen, Intergenerational Friendships, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 08:11:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12008622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightonme/pseuds/shinealightonme
Summary: Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights, but sharing tea with friends is divine.





	The Dragon's Nest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alchemicink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/gifts).



From the outside, The Dragon's Nest looked cozy but plain: low ceilings, comfortable chairs, bare stone floor. The windows were wide, to let breezes and light in. In the evening, the candles around the shop would be lit and the fire in the central pit raised. For now, the morning light bathed the day's first customers in a cheery glow.

It really was a peaceful place most of the time, Iroh thought, a trifle ruefully, as Zuko stomped through the front door with footfalls hard enough to startle awake a young woman who had fallen asleep over her first cup of the day.

"Ah, nephew!" Iroh greeted Zuko cheerfully. It was always best to start our polite and friendly when Zuko was acting up. In addition to being general good manners, it sometimes confused him enough to snuff out his bad mood. "Are you here to serve tea for the customers? It will be just like old times!"

"No, I'm not here to serve _tea_ for the _customers,_ " Zuko snapped. A couple of the regulars sitting at the nearest table exchanged looks and left in a hurry, tossing a few coins on the table. "I'm the Fire Lord. I don't serve tea."

"A man is never greater than when he is serving another," Iroh told him.

"Yeah," Saito called over from the table near the fire pit. "Listen to your elders!" Iroh was quite fond of Saito. Besides being his best customer, he was old enough to count as _Iroh's_ elder. Sometimes it was nice, to be the young one in the room.

The interjection from a stranger managed to do what Iroh could not: confuse Zuko into remembering his manners.

"Who are _you_?" Zuko asked bluntly.

Well, sort of remembering his manners. He'd lowered his voice, at least. Progress required patience.

"That's Saito," Iroh said. "You'd know him if you came to visit more." Iroh sighed dramatically, dredged up a hint of a tear. "Not that I expect you to come visit me, I'm fine on my own, running my little shop..."

"That doesn't fool me," Zuko said. "You can run a shop just fine without me. Especially since I'm busy running the Fire Nation."

"You're never too busy for your family!" Saito called over, and snuck a shot of something from a flask into his tea.

Zuko blinked at him before dramatically turning his back on the interloper and muttering under his breath (which was an improvement, because once upon a time he would have just shouted it in Saito's face), "I'm the Fire Lord. People don't speak like that to Fire Lords."

"Yes," Iroh said. "And look how that's turned out for the Fire Lords before you."

Zuko looked shamefaced. "Sorry, Uncle."

"I know that you know. But even the wisest man needs a reminder sometimes."

Zuko sighed. "I don't like reminders."

"Come, sit," Iroh said. "I'll pour you a cup of tea. I have a new floral blend in from Crescent Island."

A sound drifted in through the windows: some sort of commotion out on the streets, a block or two away.

Zuko winced. "Can't. I'm going to hide -- wait! Wait out in the back of the shop." He scowled. "I'm not hiding."

"Of course not, Fire Lord Zuko."

His scowl deepened. "Don't tell anyone I'm here."

"Any of the people you're not hiding from, you mean?" Iroh asked, but Zuko was already through the door to the back.

Iroh returned to his tea, chuckling.

A moment later, Zuko came back out and stalked right up to Saito. He reached for the teapot in front of the old man and poured to top off his nearly empty cup.

"You should drink that before it gets cold," he told Saito gruffly. "That's the house blend. It's _very good tea_." And then he stalked back out of the room.

Iroh teared up. "I've never been so proud of my nephew."

"Because he helped topple a warmongering regime at great personal expense?" Saito asked, blowing on his tea.

"No! Because he can correctly identify the house blend just from its aroma!" Iroh shook his head. "In another life that boy could have been a master brewer."

-

Katara came in after the morning rush had settled into the slow tide of late sleepers and the leisure class. The look on her face was anything but restful, though, and upon seeing her Iroh started a pot of his most soothing green tea.

"C'mon, Katara, lighten up," Sokka wheedled, following closely behind her.

This failed to appease Katara. She whirled around and fixed him with a glare that had the fierce warrior retreating several feet.

Privately, Iroh thought that anyone who had had a sibling for more than a day and thought that telling them to "lighten up" would produce a favorable response could use a good scare to bring them to their senses.

"I won't lighten up!" Katara was not angry enough to forget that she was in public, and her voice was lowered accordingly, but in its own way that just made her words more pointed. "You need to grow up!" Which was as likely to receive the desired response as her brother's plea for levity had.

"I see that your day has not been a boring one," Iroh said, interrupting the conversation by approaching them with two cups in hand.

"Do you know what he did?" Katara asked Iroh indignantly.

"I think you are confusing my wisdom with omniscience," Iroh told her. "You would not be the first! But alas, I do not know everything." He held up the cups pointedly. "Sit. It will all look better through the steam rising off a cup of tea."

"I don't know," Sokka said, stretching out his words. "Tea's good and all..."

"The second cup is for myself," Iroh told him. "I told the servers to bring you hot chocolate."

Sokka's face immediately brightened. "All right! I don't care what you say, as far as I'm concerned you _do_ know everything." He collapsed carelessly into the nearest chair, almost upending it, and had to scramble to land it back on all four legs.

Katara sat at the seat next to him, pointedly maintaining a perfect posture. Her shoulders lowered an inch when she took her tea from Iroh and sniffed it gently, but that much relaxation only lasted until Sokka's chocolate arrived and he slurped at it loudly.

"So today I had to explain to several Fire Nation diplomats that the Water Tribe embassy is not _haunted_ ," Katara said, "because _somebody_ ," and here Sokka pointed eagerly and repeatedly at himself, as though a sister could mean anybody but her brother when she intoned the word _somebody_ in such a manner, "has been dressing Momo up as a ghost and having him fly around at night."

"Is that so," Iroh said, and sipped his tea before Katara could detect his smile.

"Oh, c'mon, you're not even telling it right," Sokka said. "You totally left out the part where I made the spooky ghost noises from the roof!"

"You don't need the encouragement," Katara said.

"How would you know? You never think my jokes are funny." Sokka turned to Iroh for a ruling. "She _never_ does. And I'm talking quality jokes here, like -- "

"Like flinging mashed cauliflower in Master Pakku's face? Or hiding a fake owlserpent in the Beifongs' garden? Or making up gross lyrics to my favorite song and teaching them to all the little kids in the Southern Water Tribe?"

Sokka gasped with laughter. "I _forgot_ about that one! Oh man, that was good." He chuckled and wiped at an eye with one finger, as though brushing away a tear.

The gestured cleared his vision enough for him to see the look on his sister's face.

"Oh, um, would you look at that totally compelling reason to walk across the room," he said feebly, and fled to the other side of the shop.

"Hmph." Katara sipped her tea in anger, which pained Iroh to see.

"He's been your brother all your life," Iroh observed, "so I won't bother telling you that he means well."

"I _know_ he _means_ well."

"I know you know! That's why I won't bother saying it."

"Hmmmmph." Katara took another sip of her tea.

Iroh was good at drinking tea and being silent, too.

"Just because someone means well doesn't mean they don't cause problems," Katara said when her cup was empty. "But he doesn't even care if people think we're immature. He doesn't get that it _matters_ , the way people see us. See the Water Tribe," she corrected herself hastily.

"I can't speak to matters of state," Iroh said.

"You're the Fire Lord's uncle," Katara pointed out. "You were in line to be Fire Lord once."

"A long time ago. I've put all that behind me!" and she gave him a very canny look that suggested she did not believe this for a moment. "But I think that people know just what you did during the war and what you're capable of. I think they see you just fine. See the Water Tribe just fine," he added, and Katara blushed and looked down at her hands.

"Let me get you another," Iroh said, and stood creakily to fetch the pot.

"You know," he said as he poured, "I've spent a lot of time with diplomats. Most of them could use a good prank now and then. They all think too much of themselves as it is."

Katara stuck out her bottom lip, hearing the words without wanting to admit to listening to them just yet. That was fine; water trickled slowly, sometimes, but it always got to the ocean eventually.

Iroh set the pot down beside her and crossed the room, to where Sokka was visibly debating the merits of hiding behind a potted fern.

"Is it safe?" he whispered so loudly Iroh wondered that no one passing by on the street turned to shush him.

"You would know better than I."

Sokka took an enormous gulp of air and collapsed in on himself. "Probably give it another minute."

"Wise," Iroh said. "Prudent. Tactical. Not the sort of decision making that usually leads to faking a haunting."

"Hey, I was _very_ tactical about how I pulled that off," Sokka said. "I had maps and everything."

"My apologies," Iroh said. "I shouldn't worry about your sister for long, though. This kind of thing is to be expected in a situation like the one she is in."

"Yup!" Sokka brightened and then blinked, confused. "What situation?"

"Well, growing up," Iroh said. "Having a lot of responsibility put on your shoulders. Having to suddenly be responsible and reasonable and wise all of the time. It can be very tiring. Sometimes it makes a person revert back to the behaviors they relied on as children."

"Katara always was a bit of a stick in the mud, even when we were -- ah, wait a minute, I see what you're doing." Sokka pointed at Iroh accusingly. "Are you saying that I just dressed up Momo like a ghost because I'm tired of having to be a grown up all the time now and responsibility is scary?"

"Me? No," Iroh said, his innocence perhaps a little too pronounced.

"Because that's _not_ it," Sokka said. "It was just a really really funny idea."

"I'm sure it was."

"You should have seen those bureaucrats running."

Iroh cracked a smile, entirely genuine. "I wish I had!"

Sokka smiled in triumph, but it slipped off his face as he looked back across the room.

"I should go apologize, huh?"

"In a minute," Iroh said. "I have a very important question for you."

Sokka looked at him gravely. "Yeah?"

"Do you still remember the lyrics to that song?"

-

"IROH," Toph bellowed, planting her feet firmly on the bare stone floor of the Dragon's Nest and pointing an unwavering finger toward Iroh.

A few of the customers looked scandalized by this loud entrance. Iroh dismissed them; he loved that Toph was too loud and picked her teeth and shocked the stuffier members of society with her behavior. Tea was a serious matter, yes, but that didn't mean it was a _solemn_ matter.

"Ah, my delightful friend Toph!" Iroh said. "How may I help you?"

"WHERE IS YOUR COWARD OF A NEPHEW?" she demanded.

Her voice was strong, but Iroh took a second to examine her posture. Her shoulders were low and relaxed, and her stance was poorly weighted for an attack.

That, and the fact that Katara was fighting a smile, and that Sokka snorted so hard into his chocolate he started coughing, told Iroh that Toph wasn't actually mad, and unlikely to pose a danger.

"He's in the stockroom," Iroh said, smacking Sokka on the back. "Through the door, turn right."

"Excellent," Toph declared, cracking her knuckles before charging ahead. Iroh had to hide a wince. His joints cracked like that sometimes, and it was anything but fun. He didn't think Toph's bones would love her much when she was old.

"Isn't there some kind of family loyalty?" Katara asked. "You know, not selling out your nephew to bloodthirsty earthbenders?"

"My family has a unique relationship with loyalty," Iroh said, philosophical, as Sokka sighed and nodded his thanks, then promptly threw back his entire cup of chocolate and started choking again. "Besides, this doesn't look like it will end too poorly for Zuko."

"We'll see," Katara said, then rolled her eyes and made a complicated arm gesture.

The chocolate Sokka had just inhaled came shooting back out of his mouth and into his cup.

"That was very strange and I didn't care for it," he told his sister.

"You're welcome for saving your life."

"Any time." Sokka took a sip of the twice-regurgitated chocolate. Iroh and Katara shared a horrified look.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, FIRE LORD SCAREDY BABY!" Toph's voice came wafting out of the back of the shop, followed a second later by Toph and Zuko, who was staring in confusion at the hand she had wrapped around his wrist.

Toph grinned at Katara and Sokka. "I'm _getting_ my life-changing field trip," she said.

"Good for you," Sokka said, and offered up his cup. "Chocolate before you go?"

" _Don't drink that_ ," Katara hissed at Toph.

"Uncle," Zuko said. "Help me."

Iroh nodded sagely and took a pastry from the shop's display. He tossed it toward Zuko, who caught it easily, though the look of betrayal on his face suggested that this was only reflex.

"You'll get hungry on the road!" Iroh said. "You need to keep up your strength!"

"Traitor," Zuko said, before Toph slammed back the rest of Sokka's chocolate, declared it 'refreshing', and dragged Zuko out of the shop.

-

Iroh was just raising the fire in the central pit when a soft whooshing of air made him look up.

"Aang," he said, giving a slight bow in greeting. "Your timing is impeccable. I was just about to serve the dumplings."

"Great," Aang said. He did not look like a man who had been offered dumplings; he looked like a man who had been told he wouldn't eat again for a year. "Thanks."

"Sit," Iroh said, with a touch of the old command voice. People were starting to forget that Iroh had been a general, and that was how he liked it. But sometimes it was good to pull out that old trick, of saying a thing with no doubt that it will be obeyed and watching people -- even people so powerful and influential as the Avatar -- follow along without hesitation.

Aang was a good boy, and a strong bender, but he was still a boy; he didn't stand a chance. He was seated in the most comfortable chair in the house with a cup of tea and a plate of vegetable dumplings in front of him before he knew what had happened.

"So what brings you here?" Iroh asked, lowering himself slowly onto the seat across from Aang. He'd been on his feet too long; hanging out with these youngsters was giving his mind ideas that his body couldn't live up to.

"I don't know," Aang sighed. The steam rising out of his teacup gusted all the way across the shop, and a few customers shivered and rubbed their arms against the sudden breeze. "I guess I just wanted to go somewhere that I didn't have to be the Avatar."

"I have some bad news for you, then," Iroh told him.

"Don't tell me you have something you need from me, too."

"All I need from you is for you to drink your tea," Iroh said. "It's a new blend. I want to hear what you think!"

Aang took a sip. For a second, this face was empty of any emotion aside from the world-weary look he'd had since he entered.

Then he made several faces, which was maybe an improvement.

"I think you should stick to the old house blend," he gasped. At least he had managed to swallow the tea.

"Young people. No appreciation for complicated flavors!" Iroh waved for a server and took Aang's tea for himself.

"I've had enough of complicated things," Aang said, gloom descending over him once more. "And I guess I'm not going to get away from them if I can't even take a break from being the Avatar long enough to get a cup of tea."

"Being the Avatar is not something you can put on hold," Iroh said. "It's not a job like being the owner of the finest tea shop in the Fire Nation, where once I have closed my shop for the day I can hang up my job like an old apron. Being the Avatar is more like being an Air Nomad or a father. It's a part of your identity."

Aang frowned in confusion. "I'm not a father."

"It was just a comparison," Iroh said. "Though just so you know, I make an excellent baby-sitter..."

Aang's face underwent several contortions, not unlike his reaction to the tea earlier. "I'm not -- I can't -- no! I mean -- and Katara -- " and here he blushed. "No baby!"

Iroh laughed so hard he had to wipe a tear away.

"I'm too young to be a father," though he was just the right age to stubbornly resent being laughed at, even lovingly. "Not that anyone remembers that. Everyone _needs_ so much from me. Everyone needs something and I can't give it to all of them. And I'm tired." Aang sighed again, and Iroh twisted his hand out of his line of sight, to nudge the fire into burning a few inches higher.

"I won't lie to you and say that your life's path is going to be an easy one," Iroh told him. "You will always have your duty. But even a life of duty has joy in it."

"You sound like the monks."

"The monks must have had soothing speaking voices," Iroh said, and Aang squinted at him, like he wasn't sure if he should laugh at that or not.

"How to you find _joy_ , anyway?" Aang asked.

"How?" Iroh spread his hand out in front of him. "Joy is everywhere! It's all around you. I find joy in being an uncle. And in playing Pai Sho with my old friends. And in talking with all of my new friends." He nudged Aang's foot with his own, in case Aang would miss the point. "And I find joy in serving people tea. It lets me take care of the customers who come into my store, who might be having a bad day or a good day or just need somewhere to sit for a minute. It lets me share the fine art of tea making. People think this isn't a proper way to spend my time but...at my age, there's not a lot of time left to spend. I'll spend it how I want." He looked past Aang just then, not really seeing the tea shop anymore. "Even at your age, there's not a lot of time left to spend. Do your duty, Aang of the Air Nomads. But do it with joy."

"Yeah," Aang said, in quiet determination. "Yeah, I will." He took a bite of his dumpling.

"Aah, your tea is going cold." Iroh reached over and warmed it up for him, sighing at a job well done. "That's the best firebending trick I ever learned."

Aang cocked his head. "Didn't redirecting lightning save your life once?"

Iroh blinked. "You know, it did." He reconsidered, then shook his head. "But this is still the best firebending trick I ever learned."

-

"Wait!" someone called at Iroh, as he was preparing to close the shop for the evening. "Don't go!"

He turned and saw Toph running up the street at him, Zuko trailing behind carrying what looked like an enormous dragon sculpture.

Toph came crashing to a stop right in front of Iroh, two large satchels in hand that jingled as they swung back and forth.

"The field trip was successful?" he asked.

"Was it!" Toph crowed. "You should have seen the shipwreck we found!"

"How is it," Iroh asked her, "that a firebender and an earthbender went exploring for shipwrecks?"

"Good question," Zuko muttered, catching up to them and placing the sculpture down. It looked, on closer inspection, like the figurehead off an old ship.

"Who said you could put that down?" Toph asked, and Zuko just lifted the dragon again with a heavy sigh. Then she turned back to Iroh, beaming once more. "Come on, we'll tell you all about it!"

"I look forward to it," Iroh said. "Let me just open up the shop again," but Toph and Zuko were united for once in shaking their heads _no_.

"Why do you always get to make the tea?" Toph asked. "We're gonna go find Twinkle Toes and the rest of them and drag them out to dinner."

"It's no trouble," Iroh started.

"Let someone else take care of things for once, Uncle," Zuko said, then blushed. "Fire Lord's orders," he coughed, trying and failing to sound more stern.

"In that case," Iroh said, "It would be rude of me to refuse."

"Very rude," Toph said, and spat on the ground. "Let's go!"

"Wait," Zuko said, "First." He put the sculpture down and whispered something in Toph's ear.

"Huh, yeah, good idea. You're not totally useless after all," and while Zuko sputtered and looked offended, Toph stomped on the ground and punched out with one fist, causing the stones in front of the Dragon's Nest to rocket the figurehead up off the ground and afix it to the wall of the building, just above the shop's sign.

"What do you think, old man?" Toph asked.

"I think it's perfect," Iroh said, and followed them to dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this fic you can [reblog it on tumblr](http://toast-the-unknowing.tumblr.com/post/165476219235/the-dragons-nest-shinealightonme-avatar-the).


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